GFF 2013: Indie Game: The Movie

Film Review

★★★★

Film title:
IndieGame: The Movie

Director:
Lisanne Pajot, James Swirsky

Starring:
Jonathan Blow, Phil Fish, Tommy Refenes, Edmund McMillen

Nicola Balkind
| 20 Feb 2013

Indie Game: The Movie is – as the title suggests – an indie movie for indie video game addicts. While teams of hundreds toil away on big-name releases like Call of Duty and L.A. Noire, a team of two sacrificed their social lives to create Super Meat Boy. Meanwhile Phil Fish, creator of the much-anticipated video game Fez, spent four years designing, re-designing, and lawsuit-battling to retain creative control and a timely release of his personal indie playpen. Braid creator Jonathan Blow also chips in with tales of success and online comments board evisceration.

Made possible through crowd funding, the film is comprised of interviews interspersed with gameplay footage. Capitalising on simplicity, they capture the influences and passions of these sometimes life-long creators. Driven by the desire to make something deeply personal, the film aptly demonstrates just how much they are willing to sacrifice to that end, bearing hardship and putting lives on pause to reach that final product of a completed game. [Nicola Balkind]